School bond and tax elections in Indiana

From Ballotpedia

School bonds
Municipal bonds
School bonds
2009 • 2008 2007 • 2006
Parcel taxes

School bond and tax elections in Indiana happen under three circumstances

• To exceed the property tax revenue limit.
• To Issue new bonding.
• To exceed its levy if a school district has to issue refunds under the Excessive Property Tax Credit law.

Laws affecting school finance

Indiana bond issue law

In Indiana, school districts are defined as political subdivisions. All political subdivisions are mandated to seek voter approval to issue new bonding for new school buildings. Indiana is one of few states that sets maximum limits for school districts for issuing new bonds in which prevents school districts from seeking high dollar referendums which is common in other states. In Indiana, bonds are restricted as follows:

Bond issues must fit in one of three categories:

• Category A-An elementary school building, middle school building, or other school building for academic instruction:

• That can be used for any combination of kindergarten through grade 8;
• Cannot be used for projects involving grades 9 through 12 and
• That school districts cannot ask the taxpayers to approve more than $10 million in bonding.

• Category B-A high school building or other school building for academic instruction that:

• That can be used for any combination grades 9 through 12;
• Cannot be used for projects involving kindergarten through grade 8; and
• That school districts cannot ask the taxpayers to approve more than $20 million in bonding.

• Category C-Any other controlled project that:

• That is not a controlled project described in Categories A and B
• That school districts cannot ask the taxpayers to approve more than $12,000,000 or an amount equal to one percent (1%) of the total gross assessed value of property within the political subdivision on the last assessment date if that amount is at least $1,000,000^[1].

Under the "controlled project" clause under Indiana Bond Issue Law, school districts can issue new bonds for new construction and capital improvements as long the bonds are not used for:

• Debt Service
• Lease Payments
• Refinancing of existing projects funded by bonds.
• If the project is ordered by a state or federal court to be in compliance with a judge's order.
• In response to a natural disaster or an emergency^[2].

An referendum seeking bonding in excess of the limits is rare. This is because it is either for an a emergency purpose, involves debt service. or to be in compliance with a federal or state judge's order.

Indiana excessive property tax credit

Indiana is a state that requires school districts to issue refunds via an excessive property tax credit if they exceed a set threshold for taxing different classes of property. Under the law, school districts must issue refunds if the property taxes paid that due by the first of the new year exceeds these thresholds:

• If a homestead exceeds one and five-tenths percent (1.5%)
• If residential property exceeds two and five-tenths percent (2.5%)
• If long term care property exceeds two and five-tenths percent (2.5%)
• If agricultural land exceeds two and five-tenths percent (2.5%)
• If nonresidential real property exceeds three and five-tenths percent (3.5%)
• If personal property exceeds three and five-tenths percent (3.5%)^[3].

The law does not apply to new property taxes approved by referendum^[3].

Indiana referendum tax levy

Under Indiana Law, a school district must put a referendum tax levy ballot question if the district determines that it cannot carry out its public educational duty without asking the voters to vote for more property taxes. In Indiana, a school district must issue a referendum to replace property tax revenue that the school district will not receive under a mandatory application of the Indiana Excessive Property Tax Credit^[4].

Indiana property tax cap

In Indiana, school districts are considered to be political subdivisions under the law for taxing purposes. Under Indiana law, school districts are capped on the amount of property tax revenue they can take in. There are two established property tax cap rates in the State of Indiana. There is a cap of forty-one and sixty-seven hundredths cents ($0.4167) on each one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valued property in areas outside the corporate limits of a city or town which is mostly for rural and unincorporated areas. The other cap is sixty-six and sixty-seven hundredths cents ($0.6667) on each one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valued property inside the corporate limits of a city or town^[5].

If a school district wants to fix or exceed a property tax cap, voter approval is needed^[6].

Conduct of the bond election, limitations, rules

Authority conducting elections

The respective county elections boards is responsible for conducting elections^[7].

Election dates

School districts can hold elections during the primary or general elections scheduled on the Indiana election calendar which are the first Tuesday in May and the first Tuesday in November every year.

Needed majority

Only a simple majority is required to approve a ballot question for bond issues, property tax cap, or the referendum levy^{[8] [9]}.

Special and Emergency elections

School districts are allowed to hold special elections. 90 days must elapse when a special election is certified by the school board before a special election date. If the election involves a previously defeated ballot measure, one year must lapse exactly before a school district can pursue a special election^{[10] [11]}. School districts must pay all costs for special elections^[12].

If a emergency exists, the school district must immediately apply to the department of local government finance for a determination that an emergency exists. If the department of local government finance determines that an emergency exists, the governing body may adopt a resolution to move forward with a plan that involves an emergency election. Emergency elections must follow the same 90 day elapse requirement between approval of a resolution and the date of the election^[13].

Wording of measures

In Indiana, there are strict laws on the format of a ballot question which is outlined in the Indiana Statutes:

Bond Issue

"Shall ________ (insert the name of the political subdivision) issue bonds or enter into a lease to finance ___________ (insert a brief description of the controlled project), which is estimated to cost not more than _______ (insert the total cost of the project) and is estimated to increase the property tax rate for debt service by ___________ (insert increase in tax rate as determined by the department of local government finance)?".

• Yes
• No^[14].

Property Tax Cap and Referendum Levy

"For the _____(insert number calendar year or years) year or years immediately following the holding of the referendum, shall the school corporation impose a property tax rate that does not exceed _____________ (insert amount) cents ($0.__) (insert amount) on each one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valuation and that is in addition to the school corporation's normal tuition support tax rate?".

• Yes
• No^[15].

Required notice of bond election

Bond elections

Under Indiana law, a petition process is one option school bond elections. The first step is issue a public notice before January 1 of the new calendar year asking the voters for a petition for a ballot measure to be placed on the ballot. Then the voters of the district have thirty days after the publishing of the notice to gather enough signatures to petition for a ballot measure. The standard is either one hundred (100) persons who are either owners of real property within the school district or registered voters residing within the political subdivision; or five percent (5%) of the registered voters residing within the school district. The person who circulates the petition must sign the petition^[16].

After the petition is given to the County elections board, the County must forward the petitions to the County Auditor no more than fifteen (15) days after receiving the petitions. Once the County Auditor receives the petitions from the county elections board, they have no more than ten (10) days to certify the signatures and notify the circulators if their petition is valid and has enough signatures to be placed for next election allowed by law. The final certification standard is 125 signatures. If the petitions are certified, then the petitions are sent to the school board within 35 days of certification to finalize the certification process^[16].

All ballot questions for bonds must be approved by the County Auditor sixty days before a primary election if the ballot question is to be placed on the primary or municipal primary election ballot. August 1 is the deadline to certify the ballot question if its placed on the general or municipal election ballot^[17].

If a school district wants to approve a bond election via a resolution, 49 days must elapse at minimum when a district approves a resolution to the date of the election.

Levy and property tax cap

For referendum levy and property tax cap elections, six months must elapse between certification of a resolution by a school board and the election to occur during the election(C 20-46-1-14).

Special elections

90 days must elapse before a special election is certified before an election can occur involving a property tax cap or levy election^[18].

List of 2009 Indiana school bond referendums

All results provided by the Indiana Secretary of State.

2009 Special Elections

External links

• Link to 2009 Indiana School Bond Election Results
• Indiana School Boards Association
• Indiana Department of Education

References

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